UNC Hands Wolfpack Women Their First Loss ... Again

NC State's 15-game winning streak ends with cold-shooting 66-60 loss in Chapel Hill

Jim Dedmon/USAToday sports

CHAPEL HILL -- Someone asked NC State women's basketball coach Wes Moore how he was doing as walked into the postgame interview room at North Carolina's Carmichael Arena on Thursday.

"I've been better," he said.

Moore's sour mood was understandable. Less than 20 minutes earlier, his ninth-ranked Wolfpack held a comfortable 13-point lead on rival North Carolina and appeared to be headed for a 16th straight win to begin the season.

But the win and the winning streak -- along with Moore's happy disposition -- all came to an abrupt end when State's once-hot shooting touch suddenly disappeared. The Wolfpack went nearly 10 minutes without a field goal, allowing the Tar Heels to rally for a stunning 66-60 victory. 

It was the second straight year in which the Wolfpack's first loss of the season came at the hands of UNC.

"We probably got lulled into a sense of security there in the first half. We shot the three pretty well," Moore said, referring to his team's 8 of 13 performance from beyond the arc over the first two quarters. "Maybe we just thought we were going to do that all night."

Despite the hot-shooting start and the 38-28 halftime lead it helped produce, there were already signs of trouble looming for the Wolfpack (15-1, 3-1 ACC) before the bottom actually began to fall out.

The most glaring red flag was the production -- or lack thereof -- from the team's top two scorers.

Elissa Cunane, who had averaged 27 points over her past two games while earning ACC Player of the Week honors, didn't score again after making the game's first basket less than a minute in. And her two points were two more than sharpshooting guard Kai Crutchfield had over the opening 20 minutes.

Crutchfield finally got her first basket of the night, a 3-pointer, on the opening possession of the second half to extend State's lead to 13. 

That's when the shots stopped falling.

From the five-minute mark of the third quarter to the five-minute mark of the fourth, State missed 12 straight field goal attempts. UNC (12-3, 3-1) used the lull to score 12 straight points to tie the game by the end of the quarter, then surge ahead to begin the fourth.,

And the Wolfpack never recovered.

"Runs are a part of basketball," said senior guard Aislinn Konig, who made six 3-pointers and led the Wolfpack with 24 points. "You know that teams are going to go on runs and it just so happened that we weren't able to connect on any of our shots.”

State made only seven of its 30 field goal attempts (4 of 16 from three) during the second half.

"It's difficult to maintain that level of intensity when that's happening," Konig said, "so we need to find a way that when we aren't making shots, to create energy on the floor so that we can get back to what we were doing."

One of State's problems is that it got away from what it usually does. That is, get the ball to the 6-foot-5 Cunane and let her go to work.

The sophomore center, who averaged 27 points in her two most recent games to earn ACC Player of the Week honors, was held to just eight points on 3 of 11 shooting Thursday. Six of those points came in the final two minutes when her team was playing catchup.

Part of her problem was that her teammates weren't looking to get her the ball enough.

"During the run I was very frustrated, because we were coming down and shooting quick threes," Moore said. "I kept screaming that we wanted to get some post touches.

"You have nights like that. Elissa has been a very good player for us and she will be again. We just have to keep going to her and we have to attack the basket some. We just stood out there too much." 

The Wolfpack wasn't entirely to blame for that. UNC's Janelle Bailey also had a hand in limiting Cunane's touches..

The 6-4 junior used her superior bulk to muscle Cunane off the block and deny her the ball. Although she picked up four fouls doing so, her physical play was clearly a source of frustration for Cunane.

"After awhile," Bailey said. "I'm sure she'd had enough."

This isn't the first time the Wolfpack has had enough of Bailey and her Tar Heel teammates.

For the second time in as many years, State had a long season-opening winning streak ended at the hands of its rival. Last season, it happened in the 21st game of the season at Reynolds Coliseum. This time it came in Game 15 in Chapel Hill.

Now the task for Moore and his team is to regroup quickly, because thing aren't going to get any easier when they go to Notre Dame for their next game on Sunday.

"I told the team 'I want you to think about it tonight and feel it tonight. And I want it to bother you,'" the Wolfpack coach said. "I want all of us to look in the mirror, including the coach, and see if there's something I can do and they can do and do a better job.

"Then tomorrow we've got to move on. This league is like being out in the ocean. Here comes another wave, so you don't really have time to catch your breath. You better get ready for the next one."